Bucky's Blastoff!
Rollercoaster Design and Demonstration
November 2024 - April 2025
Why?
Who?
What?
To design a rollercoaster demonstration that showed how themed entertainment can introduce STEM concepts through clear interactions and live demonstrations, and to give students a tangible way to see motion, pressure, and basic engineering principles.
A model rollercoaster with a pneumatic launch system, a SolidWorks track layout, and a gear-assisted mechanism. I led track geometry and gearbox development, mentored newer members, and supported subsystem integration and the final public demo.
Built for K-8 students attending Engineering Expo, which sees roughly 3000 visitors over two days, and for BiTE members who were learning how to collaborate, prototype, and build an engineering demonstration together.
The Process
Ideation
We split into small groups to brainstorm themed entertainment concepts across interactive demonstrations and kinetic models. Ideas covered an entire whiteboard, and the team voted on a final direction. The pneumatic rollercoaster won as the project everyone wanted to build for BiTE’s first year. I helped outline subsystem responsibilities and guided early engineering considerations so teams could move forward confidently.
Pneumatic Launch System
My primary role was designing a gear and pinion system with a supporting gearbox to maximize the speed of the rollercoaster car during launch, giving it the velocity needed to clear the lift hill. The pneumatic system itself used a manual bike pump and a button release, and I coordinated with teammates on safety, mounting features, and pressure limits so the entire launch system integrated cleanly.
Skills & Tools: Gear Box Analysis, Dynamics
Track Layout
I led the track design in SolidWorks, using 3D splines, sweeps, and patterned features to build a track layout aligned with conservation of energy calculations. I worked closely with teammates responsible for track clips and support structures so everything aligned both digitally and physically. I also helped newer members learn spline modeling, constraints, and assembly integration.
Skills & Tools: Kinematics, Conservation of Energy, SolidWorks Modeling, 3D Printing, Design for Assembly
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Demonstration and Launching
Engineering Expo brought in around 3000 visitors over two days, and our demonstration quickly became a favorite! I was one of the main presenters, walking kids through the difference between potential and kinetic energy, showing how pressure built up in the system, and guiding them as they launched the coaster themselves. The interactive launch was a huge hit and gave students a direct, memorable connection to the engineering principles we were teaching. As Communications and Outreach Officer, I helped prepare simple, accessible explanations so every visitor could understand the system and participate.